Queens, NY –Jamie Morales was an apparently happy and healthy 30-year old woman when she walked into the Liberty Women’s Healthcare office in Flushing, New York, on July 9, 2016, for an elective second trimester abortion.

By evening, she was dead.

In a rare case of criminal prosecution of an abortionist for causing the death of a patient, Robert Rho, was arrested on October 11, 2016, after a Grand Jury issued an indictment against him for Second Degree Manslaughter (Reckless Homicide), a Class C Felony that carries a penalty of 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison.

Rho thought that the abortion on Morales went without complication until staff noticed she was bleeding heavily in the recovery room. Rho determined that she required a second abortion procedure, but even that did nothing to control the bleeding.

Morales continued to bleed and feel woozy, and even collapsed once at the clinic. Even though Rho had to she was too unstable to release, he discharged Morales to her sister, who put Morales in her car and began the trip to the sister’s home in the Bronx. Along the way Morales fell off the back seat and became non-responsive as the result of continued hemorrhaging.

Morales was transported by ambulance to a Bronx-area hospital where she was pronounced dead later that evening.

An autopsy revealed horrific internal injuries inflicted by Rho during one or both abortion procedures he conducted on her that day. Rho had lacerated her cervix, punctured her uterus and sliced her uterine artery. Any one of those injuries would cause heavy bleeding, but together, they proved catastrophic.

Had Rho not released Morales in her unstable condition, and instead called an ambulance, she might be alive today, and Rho would only be facing the possibility of a malpractice suit instead of jail time.

However, at his arraignment on the day of his arrest, Rho pleaded not guilty and was released on $400,000 bail.

Since then his case has been postponed eleven times with no clear reason for the delay. Rho’s next court appearance appears on the Queens Supreme Court “Trials AM” calendar online for November 28, 2017, but there is some doubt that the case will be resolved even then.

“If anyone thinks we will forget about this case, they are mistaken,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Jamie Morales, her baby, and her family deserve justice, and we will never forget that. When that justice finally comes, we plan to make sure everyone hears about it as a reminder of the Abortion Cartel’s callous disregard for life.”

Flint, Michigan — Last year, Planned Parenthood abortionist Laura Castleman was involved in the fatal abortion of Cree Erwin. Erwin received a suction aspiration abortion at a Planned Parenthood office in Kalmazoo, Michigan on June 30, 2016. Her uterus was perforated and she died in her mother’s home less than three days later. Her mother’s heart wrenching 911 call attests to the penetrating grief of losing a child.

Unfortunately, Castleman and the Planned Parenthood organization in Michigan were never held accountable for Erwin’s needless and tragic death.

Now, it appears that Laura Castleman has been involved in another mismanaged abortion. This time, the needless fatality was a wanted baby.

In March 2017, Amy Rygwelski sued Castleman and Planned Parenthood for malpractice stemming from a September 2014 visit to Planned Parenthood in Flint, Michigan, where Castleman also worked and oversaw the medical staff.

According to Rygwelski’s lawsuit, she first went to Planned Parenthood seeking confirmation of pregnancy and treatment for a vaginal discharge. Planned Parenthood confirmed that Rygwelski was pregnant, but failed to conduct an ultrasound to verify the age of her wanted baby.

She returned to Planned Parenthood a few days later on October 1, 2014, for a cervical biopsy. Quest Diagnostics later returned her test results indicating that the cervical tissue was “products of conception.” However, the test results were faulty. The tissue was actually an endocervical polyp, which is a benign growth inside the cervical canal.

A defendant identified as M. Rodriguez was a health care administrator who was working under Castleman’s medical license and oversight. It appears that, without ever having personally examined or consulted with Rygwelski, Castleman had Rodriguez tell the patient that her condition as an inevitable miscarriage.

However, that was a misdiagnosis that could have been avoided if anyone had ever bothered to examine Rygwelski or conduct an ultrasound on her. Under Castleman’s supervision, Rodriguez wrongfully prescribed misoprostol, a drug used to cause medication abortions.

After two courses of the abortion-inducing drug, Rygwelski had not passed any tissue. She went to see her primary physician who, unlike the Planned Parenthood staff, actually examined her. The doctor found the endocervical polyp and conducted an ultrasound that determined Rygwelski’s baby was thriving at seven weeks, 2 days gestation.

Just a few days later, a Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner working under the supervision of Laura Castleman contacted Rygwelski and told her she would need to report for a surgical abortion because the misoprostol would cause her baby to be malformed.

She submitted to a surgical abortion, done by a third party, on October 20.

Rygwelski claims that if an ultrasound had been performed by Planned Parenthood, they would have realized that her baby was fine and that there was no miscarriage in progress. Her lawsuit indicates that prescribing the abortion-inducing drug without having performed an ultrasonic examination was a violation of the standard of patient care and needlessly led to the wrongful death of her wanted baby.

The lawsuit seeks an undetermined amount for the wrongful abortion and death of her child that resulted in pain and suffering, emotional distress, shock, embarrassment, humiliation, mortification, and loss of the companionship and affections of her child.

There is nothing more painful in this world than the loss of a child. This is a pain that Amy Rygwelski and Cree Erwin’s mother now sadly share and will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Nothing can compensate these mothers for the loss of their children, but holding Castleman and Planned Parenthood accountable for these tragic and avoidable deaths will bring some small measure of justice, and perhaps comfort.

“There is evidence to lead us to believe that the deaths of Cree Erwin and the Rygwelski baby were caused by the incompetency of Planned Parenthood. That alone should disqualify them from seeing patients. It’s just too risky,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “They killed two people. They belong in jail, but unfortunately the only punishment available right now is a huge monetary settlement, which I hope Amy Rygwelski gets.”

Albuquerque, NM – Rep. Steve Pearce has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeking an investigation and prosecution of the University of New Mexico and its partner, Southwestern Women’s Options, the largest full-term abortion facility in the U.S.

Pearce’s letter expresses urgency for a Federal investigation for the following reasons:

• The New Mexico Attorney General’s office has been too slow to act on two criminal referrals made by the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, allowing many of the charges to expire under the statute of limitations. (Referral 1, Referral 2)
• The statute of limitations is quickly approaching the rest of the allegations against UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options.
• There has been one documented death of an abortion patient at Southwestern Women’s Options this year, raising concerns that the dangers at SWO must be immediately addressed.

Pearce remind Attorney General Sessions that women travel to New Mexico from all over the country to receive abortions. This thriving abortion business, which specializes in abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy, profits from interstate commerce, making the issue a federal concern.

Pearce was especially troubled about the February 4, 2017, death of Keisha Atkins from a botched late-term abortion she received at Southwestern Women’s Options.

“On February 4, 2017, a woman tragically died at SWWO facilities after receiving a late-term abortion. This raises more questions about the reckless behavior of the SWWO. In 2016 alone, the National Abortion Federation reportedly referred more than 200 Texas patients to New Mexico for abortion related procedures. With hundreds of women flocking to New Mexico to receive these dangerous procedures, something must be done” Pearce wrote.

Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico uncovered the death of Keisha Atkins, 23, and obtained her UNM autopsy report that wrongly indicated Atkins’ pregnancy – not her abortion – caused her death. However, an analysis of the autopsy report clearly shows that determination was a cover-up of the truth that Atkins died a painful, panic-filled death as the result of complications that could only have resulted from the late-term abortion.

On April 19, 2017, Rep. Pearce, along with several leaders from state and national pro-life organizations, including Operation Rescue, attended a press conference with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Chairman of the House Select Panel, that called for New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas to act immediately on the Select Panel’s criminal referrals that allege UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options were willing partners in the sale of aborted baby remains in violation of state and federal laws.

Later that same day, Balderas’ office acknowledged during a meeting with leaders of Operation Rescue, Abortion Free New Mexico, and several other pro-life groups that the referrals were under active investigation, yet there has been little progress.

On June 26, 2017, Operation Rescue president Troy Newman sent a letter to Balderas urging him to investigate criminal allegations against UNM and SWO with all urgency, but no response to that letter was ever received.

“The delay by Balderas’ office seems intentional to protect UNM and SWO from any consequences for their actions, whether it be the illegal sale of aborted baby body parts or their participation and cover-up of death of Keisha Atkins,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “As New Mexico’s ‘Top Cop,’ Balderas is committing a shocking betrayal the citizens of New Mexico by allowing his ideological cronies in the abortion business to commit crimes without consequence. U.S. Attorney General Sessions must do better than Balderas if the rule of law and the lives of women like Keisha Atkins are to mean anything.”

Please contact the office of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and demand that the Department of Justice conduct an immediate criminal investigation of UNM and the Southwestern Women’s Options abortion business.

Albuquerque, NM – A woman has died as the result of a late-term abortion process initiated at Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO), in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is the largest abortion facility in the U.S. that openly specializes in abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

Abortion Free New Mexico obtained the autopsy report for Keisha Marie Atkins, 23, who died on February 4, 2017, after being transported from SWO to UNM Hospital. Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico has also been in communication with members of Atkins’ family.

Operation Rescue is assisting Abortion Free New Mexico with an investigation of this tragedy.

This abortion-related death is particularly troubling in light of a criminal investigation that is currently underway by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office into Southwestern Women’s Options and UNM. UNM has aggressively worked to increase second and third trimester abortions at SWO, which, in turn, is UNM’s largest provider of aborted baby tissue and organs. A U.S. House investigation found this arrangement violates state and federal law, despite stonewalling and obfuscation on the part of UNM and SWO.

Atkins reported to SWO on January 31, 2017, for a four day late-term abortion procedure that was to be done by eighty-year old abortion facility owner Curtis Boyd. It is believed that Atkins was six months pregnant or more.

Four days later, on February 3, 2017, Atkins returned to SWO for the completion of the abortion where she displayed labored breathing and signs of sepsis, a systemic, life-threatening infection.

At 12:04 p.m. on February 3, an ambulance was called to transport Atkins to the hospital, but was later cancelled, raising questions of how and when Atkins actually received emergency medical help.

Once at the UNM Medical Center, Atkins’ condition deteriorated rapidly, prompting UNM staff to perform an emergency D&E abortion procedure to remove her baby through dismemberment.

During the procedure, Atkins suffered cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on February 4, 2017.

An autopsy was conducted at the UNM Health Sciences Center by the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator, which also serves as the Bernadillo County Coroner. The OMI determined that Atkins cause of death was “pulmonary thromboembolism due to pregnancy,” in other words, blood clots in the lungs.

However, a careful review of the autopsy findings indicates that this cause of death is a whitewash meant to blame Atkins’ pregnancy for her death instead of what appears to be a mismanaged late-term abortion procedure.

“UNM is a biased promoter of abortion that is attempting to shift blame onto Atkins’ pregnancy, instead of the abortion, where the blame rightfully belongs,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Keisha Atkins and her family deserve the truth, not a cover-up. But with UNM and SWO, covering up their misdeeds has become standard operating procedure.”

There is evidence that Atkins suffered from sepsis, a bacterial infection caused by the four-day abortion process, which brought about symptoms consistent with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC). Atkins suffered hemorrhaging in her brain and left adrenal gland, a buildup of fluid around her lungs, and other symptoms of DIC that the autopsy ignored.

Pro-life leaders believe there is a way to keep other women from suffering Atkins’ fate.

“We call on the New Mexico Attorney General to step up their criminal investigation, and we call on the State Medical Board to take a hard, honest look at Keisha Atkins’ death,” Newman said. “Curtis Boyd should be stopped from practicing, and the dangerous Southwestern Women’s Options should be shut down for good.”

“Coverups are as heinous as the crimes, and the crimes of the abortion cartel in New Mexico have been covered up for too many years. It is time for Hector Balderas to do his job or resign. It is time for the UNM Regents to do their jobs or resign. It is time for the New Mexico Medical Board to fully investigate Keisha’s death without bias,” said Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, The Protest Priest.

“We join the family of Keisha Atkins as they grieve her death from serious complications during a late term abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options. She was a 23-year old vibrant woman with her whole life ahead of her that was tragically cut short,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico. “For years we have worked to expose the barbaric nature of late term abortion in New Mexico and sought to bring accountability to the unregulated and unaccountable Abortion Cartel. Now more than ever, we need leadership in our city and state to take a bold stand and the necessary steps to prevent the needless deaths of women and their children through late term abortion.”

Washington, DC – As the Senate considers legislation that would defund Planned Parenthood, a new video produced by Operation Rescue provides a compelling reason for urgency.

The 1.5-minute video plays an excerpt from the chilling 911 call placed by Cree Erwin-Shepard’s mother when she found her daughter dead from a botched abortion on July 4, 2016. That is followed by a video clip of remarks made by Erwin-Sheppard’s brother, Tyler Sheppard, at a press conference held last month outside the Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Erwin-Sheppard received her fatal abortion.

Referring to Planned Parenthood, Sheppard explained, “They are ravaging these women . . . I want to know what happened. I want to know why my sister’s life wasn’t good enough to save.”

“Our federal tax money currently enables Planned Parenthood to continue to inflict human tragedy on our society,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “The response of Cree’s family to her loss humanizes that tragedy. This gives new urgency to the Senate’s impending vote to defund Planned Parenthood. If this family’s grief and pain are overlooked or ignored, then the Senate is only creating conditions that will ensure more women like Cree will be injured or killed, and more families will suffer.”